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Walter White
) 51 ( ) 52 ( ) |Gender = Male |Ethnicity = Caucasian |Aliases = Heisenberg Mr. White Walt Jackson ( ) Mr. Mayhew ( ) Mr. Lambert ( ) |Occupation = Teacher (former) Car Washer Crystal Meth Manufacturer (former) Drug Kingpin (former) |Family=Skyler White - Wife Walter White Jr. - Son Holly White - Daughter Hank Schrader - Brother-in-law Marie Schrader - Sister-in-law |Relationships = Bogdan Wolynetz - Former employer in the car wash Carmen Molina - Former employer in school Jesse Pinkman - Former meth cook partner Elliott Schwartz - Former colleague Gretchen Schwartz - Former colleague and girlfriend Tuco Salamanca - Former employer in meth trade Saul Goodman - Lawyer Gustavo Fring - Former employer in meth trade Gale Boetticher - Former meth cook assistant Lydia Rodarte-Quayle - Former meth empire associate Todd Alquist - Former meth cook assistant |Status = Alive, Active |First Appearance = |Last Appearance = }} Walter "Walt" Hartwell White Sr., also known by his pseudonym "Heisenberg", is a chemist and a former chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who, after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, started manufacturing crystal methamphetamine to both pay for his treatments and provide for his family in the event of his passing. Knowing nothing about the drug trade, he enlisted the aid of his former student, Jesse Pinkman, to manufacture and, more importantly, sell his meth. Walt's scientific knowledge and dedication to quality lead him to produce crystal meth of unrivaled purity. Walt eventually devised an alternative chemical process utilizing methylamine, giving his product a distinctive blue color. His crystal meth, christened "blue sky" by dealers and users alike, instantly began to dominate the market. While Walt was initially squeamish about the use of violence, he gradually came to see it as a necessity and eventually developed into a ruthless drug lord motivated solely by vanity, ego, and greed. History Background information Walter Hartwell White was born on September 7, 1959. When Walter was young, his father's health rapidly deteriorated upon developing Huntington’s disease, and all the good memories that friends and family tried to implant in the boy’s head never supplanted the terrifying memory of visiting his father in the hospital just before his death . He remembers the twisted body, the empty eyes that didn't seem to focus on him, the terrible disinfectant smell of the hospital, and his breathing: Walter described it as “this rattling sound like if you were shaking an empty spray paint can—like there was nothing in him” . Walter studied at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) with Elliott Schwartz, where he proved himself a brilliant chemist with a specialty in X-ray crystallography . In 1985, Walt's groundbreaking research regarding photon radiography contributed to a project that was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded jointly to Herbert A. Hauptman and Jerome Karle for outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures. Following his education, Walter went on to co-found Gray Matter Technologies with his friend, Elliott Schwartz. At this time, he was dating his female lab assistant, Gretchen . For reasons not yet explained, Walter suddenly left Gretchen during a vacation with her family, leaving her and his research behind. Walt sold his share of the company to Elliott for $5,000. Gretchen eventually went on to marry Elliot instead, and Gray Matter became a highly successful company, largely as a result of Walter's research. Walter feels that the fruits of his hard labor have been stolen from him and bitterly blames Elliott and Gretchen for his lot in life. Around 20 years ago, Walt worked in Application Labs . He also worked in a chemical lab near Los Alamos, and met Skyler White, a hostess at that time, in a restaurant . He moved to Albuquerque to work for Sandia Laboratories just prior to his firstborn . Walt eventually went on to become a chemistry teacher at JP Wynne High School where his son, Walter White Jr., also attends as a student. Financially, this job was not enough to support his family, so Walt took on a second job at the A1A Car Wash. Season 1 On September 8, 2009—the day after his 50th birthday—Walter passed out while working at the car wash. He was then reluctantly rushed to the hospital via ambulance where he was eventually diagnosed by Dr. Belknap with stage-three terminal lung cancer and given less than two years left to live. This grim prognosis caused a dramatic change in Walt's usually mild-mannered demeanor, and he decided that he must take extreme measures to provide for his family's long-term financial security . After being invited by his DEA agent brother-in-law, Hank Schrader, to accompany him on a live raid on a methamphetamine lab, Walt has an encounter with one of his former students, Jesse Pinkman, whom he finds out is a meth dealer and manufacturer known by the alias "Captain Cook." Walt, who has decided to enter the illegal drug trade to develop a sufficient inheritance for his family before he succumbs to his cancer, blackmails Jesse into helping him enter the meth manufacturing business. Operating out of an RV in the desert, Walt uses his chemistry knowledge to cook remarkably potent methamphetamine . The two attempt to sell their product to a drug distributor, "Krazy-8", who believes that Walt is an undercover cop and attempts to kill him. At first offering them the recipe for his crystal meth, Walt instead gasses his assailants with phosphine gas and leaves them to suffocate in the RV, before driving away with an injured Jesse in tow. When the RV careens the RV down a desolate highway, Walt climbs out of the RV and records a video of himself, sending a farewell message to his family, and stating to the authorities that this "is not an admission of guilt." With sirens heard in the distance, Walt picks up Krazy-8's gun and awaits the incoming approach of emergency services. Walt then attempts to shoot himself but fails to remove the safety. Back at the White Residence, Walt's first attempt at selling meth leaves him exhausted. He meets Skyler's troubled queries with atypical sexual aggression which leaves her asking somewhat stunned . Walt and Jesse soon discover that Krazy-8 is still alive. Jesse finds that Krazy-8 has escaped from the RV, and Walt finds him roaming the neighborhood. Krazy-8 runs into a tree at the sight of Walt, which allows Walt to carry him to his car. Walt and Jesse restrain Krazy-8 in Jesse's basement with a bike lock. After a coin flip, Jesse is tasked with disposing of Emilio Koyama's body, and Walt with killing the other, a prospect that sickens him. Ignoring Walt's instructions on using a specific plastic container, Jesse dissolves the dead body in a bathtub of hydrofluoric acid, but the acid eats through the tub and the floor beneath it, spilling dissolved entrails in the hall . Walt begins to contemplate on moral issues about killing Krazy-8, writing a checklist on what is right, and what is wrong. Unable to bring himself to kill him, Walt has begun providing food and a latrine to his prisoner, whom he has taken on as a confidant, fervently searching for any excuse to spare his life. Walt passes out briefly while delivering food to Krazy-8, breaking a plate. Awakening later, Walt picks up the broken plate and goes to get the key to set Krazy-8 free. However, while upstairs, Walt has a sudden realization that there is a large sharp piece of the plate missing, which Krazy-8 picked up and hid on his person while Walt was passed out. Realizing that Krazy-8 intends to kill him the second he sets him free, Walt decides that he has no choice but to kill the dealer, which he does by pulling back on the bike lock around his neck holding him in place until he chokes to death. Walt, deeply disturbed by the ordeal, breaks his ties with Jesse . At a dinner party with his family, Walt finally reveals his cancer, having first told Skyler about his condition some time before. They implore him to consult specialists and undergo chemotherapy. At first adamant to decide his own fate, to die honorably instead of suffering the indignities of chemotherapy side-effects, Walt finally agrees to receive treatment. Walt later crosses paths with an obnoxious businessman, while the businessman is in the office, Walt destroys his car . Walt and Skyler go to the birthday party of Elliott Schwartz, Walt's long-time partner and founder of Gray Matter Technologies, with his wife Gretchen Schwartz. Elliot tells other guests at the party about Walt's contributions in the forming of Gray Matter Technologies. Walt and Elliot later chat about the old days and is offered a job in the company, to which Walt declines. Elliot reveals that he knows about Walt's cancer, and states that the job offers a good life insurance. After leaving the party, Walt grows angry at Skyler for asking for charity from Elliot and Gretchen. After a tense discussion about Walt's decision to do chemotherapy, Walt finally accepts . Walt is offered financial assistance from his brother-in-law, Hank, who is a DEA agent, and from Elliot, but turns down both offers. Instead, Walt decides to return to producing meth and so pay for the treatments himself as a matter of pride, while telling his family that the money he earns is actually from Elliot. Jesse, unable to replicate Walt's recipe, accepts Walt's partnership once again . The two agree to their clearly defined roles: Jesse the salesman and Walt the cook. Parallel to this, Walt has his first session of chemotheropy, using the money that was obtained from his drug trafficking. As a result of the chemotherapy, Walt begins to suffer nausea as a side effect. Jesse learns that Walt has lung cancer and, realizing his goals of helping his family after his death, develops a certain respect for him. Jesse goes out to sell the product (and smoke some of it), but Walt is disappointed of the results. Walt goes on to state that they need a distributor to move their product in wholesale. Jesse later discovers that Skinny Pete has met a psychopathic local drug distributor Tuco Salamanca while he was in jail . During a session in class, Walt receives an unexpected visit from Hank, who informs him that the gas mask found in the desert once belonged to the school. Hank reviews the inventory and discovers that another gas mask had been missing, with several glassware looking sparse, and erlenmeyer flasks missing. Hank suggests Walt to keep better control of his turf, and that students shouldn't be underestimated . Walt begins to notice his side effects of chemotherapy, starting with his complete hair loss. When Jesse goes to meet with Tuco, Tuco refuses to pay up front for the product and savagely beats Jesse when he attempts to end the deal. With Jesse in the hospital, Walt orders Skinny Pete to tell him everything he knows about Tuco. Walt confronts Tuco with the demand for up-front payment, using the pseudonym "Heisenberg." Tuco questions Walt's lack of street sense but Walt detonates a concealed explosive (fulminated mercury), blowing out the top floor of the hideout and intimidating Tuco into surrendering payment with a promise for future business . Walt begins to come to terms with his secret lifestyle. Meanwhile, Walt and Jesse face difficulties producing the large amount of meth promised to Tuco. Walt informs Jesse that instead of using the pseudoephedrine method as it is difficult to use the method to produce in large quantities, they will instead use methylamine, giving Jesse a list of what to buy. After Jesse manages to buy everything on the list, Jesse states that he couldn't get methylamine, because it is found only in a chemical warehouse. Covering their faces with wool masks, Walt and Jesse use thermite to break into the warehouse, where they steal a large barrel of methylamine. They deliver the promised amount of meth to Tuco, but during the transaction, one of Tuco's associates makes a seemingly innocuous comment, prompting Tuco to beat him until he is bloody and unconscious . Season 2 Having completed their deal with Tuco in the junkyard, Walt and Jesse realize just how unstable and violent he can be. Jesse is convinced that he has seen Tuco's black SUV going up and down his street. Walt puts it down to paranoia—until he sees a black SUV parked just down the block from his house. Jesse's solution is to shoot Tuco before he kills them, but Walt has a better idea using ricin. Panic sets in, however, when they think Tuco is killing his associates. Tuco kidnaps Jesse and Walt . Having been kidnapped by a crazed Tuco, Walt and Jesse are held prisoner by him in a desert shack where he often hides out and takes care of his sick uncle, "Tio". Walt's brother-in-law Hank and the DEA have rolled Tuco's entire organization, and Tuco thinks that one of his associates may have been a source of information. Walt unsuccessfully tries to feed Tuco the poison he prepared. Hank, meanwhile, remembers that Jesse Pinkman was Walt's source of marijuana and tries to track him down. Tuco's mute wheelchair-bound uncle alerts him to the fact that his prisoners are up to something, and it looks like he's going to kill Jesse. Hank shows up looking for Jesse, and is confronted by Tuco. A brief firefight ensues and Hank shoots Tuco dead. Walt and Jesse run off into the desert . Having gotten away from Tuco, Walt and Jesse now have to get home and explain where they have been. Walt has a plan and they split up. He goes to a supermarket and strips naked while walking around the aisles. He is hospitalized and claims to have no memory of where he has been for the last few days. Jesse returns to his house to clean out the basement and get rid of the RV. When the DEA track him down, he claims that he has been shacked up with a prostitute for the weekend. With some of his problems now behind him, Walt is keen to start cooking again . Walt continues his treatment and is starting to feel better but is concerned at the growing medical bills. Jesse begins to re-establish himself, paying off his debts and getting a new place to live. He develops an interest in his new next-door neighbor and landlord Jane Margolis. Walt and Jesse soon rev up the RV and are cooking again. Jesse's not keen on selling the meth on the street and suggests he and Walt take over Tuco's role as a distributor. Meanwhile, Hank and the DEA have come across the name "Heisenberg" and aren't sure if he is real or just an urban legend . Skinny Pete has been ripped off by a drug-addicted couple, and Walt has made it plain to Jesse that unless he does something about it, word will get around pretty quickly that Jesse and his crew are an easy mark. Jesse isn't a very effective enforcer, however, and soon finds himself in over his head. Walt goes back to work, but not all is going smoothly. Walt's story starts to unravel when Skyler gets a call from Gretchen Schwartz and Skyler thanks her for paying for Walt's treatment. Gretchen doesn't reveal the truth, but Walt's bitterness at their past relationship—personal and business—comes out . Walt has trouble getting in touch with Jesse, who's been avoiding him since his encounter with Spooge. Jesse is also not providing product to his dealers, so Walt arranges to deliver it. He learns that the word on the street is that Jesse killed Spooge and, thanks to his new reputation as a cold-blooded killer, they're having no problem at all collecting payment. Walt decides the time has come to expand their territory and put Jesse's new reputation to good use. Meanwhile, Skyler goes back to work for Ted Beneke, her former boss. She increasingly relies on Ted for emotional support due to Walter's constant absence and strange behavior . Walt and Jesse have yet another problem to deal with when one of their dealers, Jesse's friend Badger, is arrested by the Albuquerque police. They end up hiring a shady lawyer, Saul Goodman, who has a unique way of ensuring that Badger gets off with a light sentence without having to give away Jesse or Walt's identity. As Walt learns however, it may come at a very high price. Walt's brother-in-law Hank, the DEA Agent, is suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder following the bombing in Juárez, and is having trouble just getting out of bed in the morning. Walt has some suggestions for him . Walt is convinced that his medical condition is deteriorating. He continues to have coughing fits and is now coughing up blood. Having only $16,000 remaining of the meth money after the numerous setbacks, he and Jesse set off for the desert for a marathon cooking session over an extended weekend. He and Jesse end up cooking 38 pounds of meth to sell off before Walter dies. Jesse continues to mess up, this time by leaving the keys in the ignition and inadvertently draining the RV's battery. They find themselves stuck in the middle of the desert, cold and without much water. Walt's knowledge of chemistry again saves the day, as he constructs a mercury battery galvanic cell to help them. At the doctor, Walter discovers that he is in remission - his tumor has shrunk by 80% . Despite the good news about his condition, Walt is feeling out of sorts and is generally unhappy, verging on anger. Skyler decides to throw a party to celebrate the news and thank all of their friends for their support, but Walt gets drunk and then into an argument with Hank that puts a damper on things. He is embarrassed about his behavior and tries to make amends all around, but it's proving to be a challenge. He tries to channel his energies but eventually realizes what the problem is. Walt also tells Jesse the good news and tells him that he is finished with their little enterprise after the 38 pounds is sold off. Jesse's relationship with Jane continues to grow, but he is taken aback when her father drops in to see her and she doesn't introduce him as her boyfriend . After one of their dealers, Jesse's friend Combo, is murdered by a rival gang, Saul proposes new distribution method for Walt and Jesse's product. Under stress, Jesse tells Jane what he does. Saul puts Walt in touch with a meth distributor named Gustavo Fring, a cautious yet successful businessman who is skeptical of Jesse's dependability but agrees to purchase Walt's product. However, Gus expresses concern about Jesse's drug problem, which has escalated into heroin use due to Jane's relapse. Walt receives a large offer for the short-notice delivery of the remainder of their inventory, but at the same time receives a call from Skyler, notifying him of her imminent labor . ]] Walt delivers the inventory in time, but misses his daughter's birth. Jesse confronts Walt about his share of the payment, but Walt refuses to disburse the funds until Jesse can prove his sobriety. Jesse and Jane's addiction is discovered by Jane's father, Donald, who agrees to give her one day to settle her affairs before going to rehab. In an effort to minimize the cost of Walt's upcoming surgery, Walt Jr. sets up a website to gather donations for his father's medical expenses. It is quickly used by Saul as a way to forward Walt's earnings without raising suspicion. After discovering that Jesse deserves a cut of the sale, Jane blackmails Walt into delivering Jesse's share. Later, Walt returns to Jesse's to attempt to help him break his addiction, tries to shake Jesse conscious and knocks Jane on her back in doing so. Shortly after, Jane begins asphyxiating on her vomit. He does nothing to help and allows her to die . Jesse awakens, discovers Jane's demise, and contacts Walt. Walt contacts Saul, who sends his PI/cleaner Mike Ehrmantraut to mitigate Jesse's involvement with Jane's death. Subsequently, Walt must rescue Jesse from self-destruction. Walt's funds are funneled into his son's website, SaveWalterWhite.com, which attracts the attention of the media. Walt's secretive behavior is made prominent once again when he accidentally references multiple cell phones while under the initial effects of anesthesia moments before his surgery. This prompts Skyler to investigate deeper, thereby revealing many of Walt's lies, which spurs her to leave him. Jane's father, an air traffic controller, distracted by the grief over his daughter's death, causes a mid-air collision, resulting in debris and human remains raining down onto the Whites' residence, as well as the rest of Albuquerque . Season 3 All of Albuquerque is in shock in the aftermath of the mid-air plane collision. Walter White is living in his home alone, at least for a while longer. His wife Skyler has moved out with their son and newborn daughter to give Walt a chance to pack his things. She speaks to a divorce lawyer about making the split permanent but seems unsure when the attorney says she will uncover any money Walt may have hidden. When she confronts Walt about the divorce, she also uncovers for the first time just how he made his money. When all is said and done, Walt decides to get out of manufacturing and tells his principal contact, Gus, that he's getting out of the business. Gus has an attractive offer - $3 million for three months of his time - but Walt turns him down. Meanwhile, two dangerous looking men cross over into the US from Mexico . Walt is having difficulty adjusting to his new life. He doesn't want to be the bad guy and refuses to get into drug manufacturing again. He has an encounter with a police officer but manages to avoid charges courtesy of brother-in-law Hank's intervention. Skyler still won't let him set foot in the house and Walt Jr. in particular is having trouble understanding how his mother can treat him this way. His sleazy lawyer-partner Saul Goodman wants him to start producing meth again and takes steps to encourage him in that direction. Unbeknown to him, the Mexican cousins now know where he lives. . Walt moves into the house and tells Skyler he has no intention of leaving. She won't hear of it but Walter Jr. is thrilled that his Dad is back. It doesn't stop her from calling the police however in an attempt to have him thrown out. She also decides to pursue her own interests. Skyler responds by beginning an affair with Ted Beneke and informing Walt right away . Walt reacts with furious anger at the realization that his wife is having an affair, and goes to Beneke Fabricators to talk to Ted. While waiting outside his office, Walt notices Ted peeking through the blinds and attempts to force his way into the office by throwing a large potted plant at the window. Security escorts him out and Mike picks him up and takes him straight to Saul's office, revealing they both knew about the affair because of the bugs. Walt furiously fires Saul for bugging his house, who cancels the website money laundering. Following an attempt by Walt to initiate an affair with Carmen Molina, he is suspended indefinitely with pay, and refuses to leave the house despite Skyler's affair. Gus eventually pulls him back into the meth-cooking business with a ploy pitting Jesse and Walt against one another, and showing him the state-of-the-art superlab he has just installed in one of his buildings. Once he has decided to go back in he moves back out of the house and signs Skyler's divorce papers. Hank informs Walt of his impending investigation into Jesse and the RV, prompting Walt to get involved in the destruction of the RV, barely managing to not be discovered by Hank thanks to a well-timed phone call. After Jesse lands in the hospital due to Hank's beating, Walt manipulates Gus into making Jesse his partner to replace the nerdy Gale so Jesse will drop the charges on Hank. Later, Skyler forces Walt to pay for Hank's hospital bills after she deduces he is the reason behind the attack on Hank, lying to Marie and telling her that Walt earned the money counting cards and gambling in backrooms, providing a less extreme lie to account for his behavior and finances. When Hank comes around, he lets the family know he received a warning call one minute before the ambush informing him of it. Walt concludes that Gus has orchestrated this entire series of events: steering the cousins away from him and onto Hank while also saving Hank's life, creating a firefight that would put heat on the cartel and allow him to corner the meth market in the Southwest. Walt meets with Gus at the Pollos Hermanos industrial plant, letting him know he has come to this conclusion and is grateful. Gus in return extends Walt's contract to 15 million dollars for a year's work along with a guarantee of safety for his family. As Walt begins to write checks for Hank's medical bills, Skyler decides to become involved in the money laundering side of things, meeting with Walt and Saul and asserting her own demands. Walt also becomes friendlier with Gus, eating dinner with him on occasion. However, when Jesse discovers Tomás, Andrea's brother, murdered Combo, and is working for dealers who work for Gus, he demands retribution. Gus agrees to stop using children in his organization, but Tomás then turns up dead in a playground. When Jesse seeks vengeance against the two dealers who murdered him, Walt intervenes and kills them both, telling Jesse to run, fearing Gus's wrath. Walt meets with Gus and Mike in the desert, asserting that what he did was necessary and Jesse is in hiding, not to be given up by Walt. Gus rehires Gale as Walt's lab assistant, secretly planning to replace Walt with Gale as his skills at running the lab increase. Walt begins to suspect this, and has Jesse lie in wait near Gale's apartment with a gun. When Mike and Victor kidnap Walt, planning to kill him, he promises to give up Jesse, but instead orders him to kill Gale, saving both their lives and keeping their jobs safe. Jesse goes to Gale's apartment and despite his pleas, shoots him as the season ends. Season 4 Walt and Jesse are held hostage in the lab by Victor and Mike, anxiously awaiting Gus' reaction to the murder of Gale. Gus shows up, changes into a lab suit, slits Victor's throat with a box cutter, then changes back to his work clothes and tells Walt and Jesse to get back to work, then leaves. Walt is more shaken than Jesse, who later tells Walt that they don't need to worry about being killed when it's as if, stuck in their situation now, they're already dead . Walt then illegally buys and begins carrying a Snubnosed revolver but Mike soon tells Walt he'll never see Gus again. Walt goes to Gus' home, presumably to kill him, but receives a call from Tyrus telling him to go home. Walt later follows Mike to a bar, tells Mike that he might be in danger as well, then asks Mike to get him in a room with Gus and Walt will "do the rest". Mike punches Walt, kicks him twice on the floor, then leaves . Walt furiously notices that a motion-detecting surveillance camera has been installed in the lab. Later that day, Skyler convinces Walt in a meeting with Saul to buy the car wash by mentioning how the owner insulted his manhood. She devises a plan to trick Bogdan into selling, and she is eventually successful Walt and Skyler plan to tell Hank that they paid for the car wash with illicit gambling winnings. They rehearse the story and even attend a support group for gambling addicts, but Walt remains too distracted to put much effort into the charade. During a family dinner, Hank tells Walt that he is informally consulting on a murder case for the local police and reveals evidence that implicates Gale as cook of the high grade blue meth that's been turning up in the Southwest. Hank also asks Walt about the mysterious initials "W.W." in Gale's notebook, to which Walt points out that they stand for "Walt Whitman," a favorite poet of the deceased meth cook . Fearing for Jesse's safety, Walt tries to confront Gus at Los Pollos Hermanos, but Gus is not there. Mike assures Walt that Jesse is safe, and he takes Jesse with him while he collects drug money for Gus. Walt and Skyler purchase the car wash, after which they have sex. Following this, Skyler asks Walt to move back into the house. Jesse, after fighting off two attackers at one of the money collections and appearing to be a hero, informs Walt that he will be making pick ups with Mike as a second job from now on. Gus and Mike discuss the attack on Jesse, and reveal that Gus set up the attack, planning for Jesse to win the confrontation. When Hank suggests to an intoxicated Walt that Gale was a genius, Walt's pride gets the better of him and he tells Hank that he believes Gale more likely copied another's work. Hank's pursuit of the case is renewed, and he expresses his puzzlement at finding a Los Pollos Hermanos napkin in Gale's belongings, as he was a vegan . When Walt wakes with a hangover, Skyler tells him she thinks his scoffing off the Gale-is-Heisenberg theory to Hank was a self-sabotaging "cry for help." Walt angrily denies that, telling her he's not in trouble because "I am the danger." Alarmed, Skyler leaves. Walt, worried, buys a flashy new car (Dodge Challenger) for Walt Jr. Walt picks up the keys to the car wash from Bogdan, who tells him he must be a "tough" boss; Walt, seething, refuses to let Bogdan take his framed first dollar from the business. Walt then breaks the glass and uses the dollar to buy a soda from the vending machine. Walt tells Jesse that he suspects Gus is driving a wedge between him and Jesse and Jesse's heroic stopping of the stick-up was a set-up; he tells a fuming Jesse that "it's all about me!" Skyler drives to the Four Corners and flips a coin—it lands twice on the Colorado side but she reluctantly decides to return home. She tells Walt he must return Walt Jr.'s new car tomorrow and that "Someone has to protect this family from the man who protects this family" . After Skyler tells Walt she's negotiated the return of the car to the dealership, Walt, angry, drives the Challenger to a parking lot near the airport, burns donuts and crashes into a parking block, then stuffs the ownership papers in the gas tank, lights them afire, and blows up the car. Saul covers up the outburst, which costs Walt $52,000. When Walt drops off more than $250,000—his fortnightly take—to Skyler, she's stunned by the amount, unsure how she'll launder his meth-lab earnings (over $7 million annually) through their car wash. Walt convinces Jesse to kill Gus and concocts a ricin poison in the lab that Jesse then hides in one of his cigarettes. At the sit-down with the cartel, though, Jesse hesitates and doesn't add the poison to the coffee he makes for Gus . Though Gus's explanations and alibi for Gale's murder are accepted by the DEA and local law enforcement, a still suspicious Hank has Walt drive him to Gus' restaurant; once there, he tells Walt of his suspicions and tells him to slip a tracking device onto Gus' car. With instruction from Gus, Walt plants the device and Gus later removes it. Walt, alarmed by Hank's investigation into his boss, tells Jesse to poison Gus as soon as possible but he suspects Jesse's been putting it off . Walt drives to Gus' restaurant with an eager Hank to retrieve the tracking bug he left on Gus' car. Hank's suspicious when the bug only shows Gus driving between home and work: "He's so clean he must be dirty." Meanwhile, Gus calls the cartel, giving in to their demands; Gus invites Jesse over for dinner and asks him if he can cook Walt's formula. The next night, Jesse calls Walt to come over; he then explains that Gus is sending him to Mexico to show the cartel how to cook Walt's formula. Walt responds by asking him if he poisoned Gus; Jesse says he didn't see him. Walt knows he saw him, he says, because he put a bug on Jesse's car that showed he was at Gus' house. Jesse, furious at Walt's distrust, throws the bug at him, cutting his forehead open. The two fight and Jesse gets the upper hand, punching Walt repeatedly in the face, then telling him to leave and never come back . Skyler shows Walt Jr. his sixteenth-birthday present, a PT Cruiser, but he's quietly disappointed. He goes to his dad's place, and Walt, recovering from his fight, lies about his injuries, saying they came about because he was gambling again. He breaks down, confiding to his son: "I made a mistake. It's my own fault." Meanwhile, Skyler urges Ted to pay the IRS with the money she gave him, but he refuses . While Jesse is in Mexico, Walt continues cooking meth in the superlab under the supervision of Tyrus Kitt. Walt drives Hank to scope out the L. P. Factory Farm again but, en route, Hank tells him to go to an industrial laundry he's linked to Gus and Gale. Walt, panicking that he'll find the meth lab there, pulls into oncoming traffic, causing an accident and giving Hank whiplash. Walt realizes someone's been cooking in the lab, goes to Jesse's house, and begs him for help, saying Gus will kill him if Jesse replaces him. Jesse spurns Walt, and Gus' henchmen (Tyrus included) stun-gun him, driving him to the desert, where Gus tells Walt he's fired. Walt retorts that Gus can't kill him because Jesse won't let him. Gus says he'll now take care of Hank and, if Walt interferes, his family will die. Walt rushes to Saul and gets the number of a man who'll help him and his family "disappear"; he tells Saul to tip off the DEA about a hit on Hank. When Walt gets home and goes down into the crawl space, he finds there's not enough money for disappearing; Skyler tells a frenzied Walt that she gave it to Ted. Walt, in disbelief, starts laughing hysterically as Skyler, horrified, takes a call from Marie about sudden police-protection of Hank after there was a tip that the cartel's gunning for him . Skyler, Walt Jr., and Holly go into DEA protection at Hank's and Marie's insistence. Hank harries ex-partner Steve into investigating the laundry; as Steve looks around there, Gus calls Jesse in the lab to tell him what's happening is Walt's fault, but Jesse still refuses to "sign off" on eliminating Walt. Saul summons Jesse to his office, where he's anxiously packing up, saying it's the "end times"; he gives Jesse's savings to him and tells him Gus threatened Walt's family. Andrea calls Jesse to the hospital because her son Brock is in critical condition with a mysterious flu-like illness. Jesse, suspecting what has happened, fishes for a cigarette, finds the ricin vial missing and tells Andrea to have the doctors treat Brock for poisoning. Jesse goes to Walt's house, where Walt has barricaded himself inside with just a revolver for protection. As Walt rambles, Jesse picks up the gun and accuses Walt of poisoning Brock; Walt pleads for his life and tells him Gus must be behind the poisoning. Walt presses the revolver against his forehead, daring Jesse to kill him but Jesse can't, as he believes Walt. Jesse is now determined to kill Gus, but Walt tells Jesse to let him help. Walt rigs small explosives and plants them on Gus' car while Gus meets with Jesse in the hospital chapel. Gus walks back to his car in the garage, while Walt watches from a nearby rooftop through binoculars, ready to detonate the explosives. However, Gus seems to suspect something and walks away from his vehicle, dashing Walt's plan . After Walt's car bombing plan fails, Walt pays a hefty bribe to Saul's secretary Francesca to get in touch with Saul, and with Jesse's help they realize that Gus may be vulnerable if he visits Hector Salamanca at the nursing home Casa Tranquila, where Gus has gone in the past to torment Hector about the deaths of his family members. Walt visits Hector and offers him a chance for revenge against Fring: "I know that you despise me, but I'll bet that I know someone you hate even more." Hector then requests a meeting at the DEA office, but tells them nothing; he only crudely insults Hank. Tyrus has been tailing Hank and sees Hector leave the DEA office, and informs Gus. Jesse is released after no ricin is found in Brock's bloodwork, but as he leaves the police station he is kidnapped. Tyrus visits Hector's room and sweeps it for any bugs; he informs Gus that it's clean. Gus arrives and berates Hector for speaking to the DEA, calling him a "crippled rata" and prepares to kill him. Hector finally looks him in the eye and then rings his bell, detonating a bomb that he has allowed Walt to plant in his wheelchair. The door is blown off of the room and Gus walks out into the hall and straightens his tie - the entire right side of his face having been blown off - before dropping dead . Meanwhile, Jesse is working at the lab under duress and under guard, when Walt arrives and executes Jesse's two captors. Walt and Jesse then flood the lab with chemicals and set it ablaze, wiping their fingerprints off the door as they leave. Later, Walt meets Jesse at the hospital parking garage, and Jesse tells him Brock's going to pull through and was poisoned by a Lily of the Valley plant, not ricin. When Jesse leaves, Walt calls Skyler, who's watching coverage of the nursing home bombing on the news. She asks, "Was this you?" Walt replies, "It's over. We're safe. I won." As he leaves the parking garage, he smiles at Gus' car, still parked there. In the final scene, on the deck of Walt's swimming pool, the camera slowly zooms in on a potted plant—a Lily of the Valley—implying that Walt had poisoned Brock to win back Jesse's loyalty by convincing him that Gus was responsible . Season 5 After Gus' death, Walt returned home and disposed of all evidence from the pipe bomb and Lily of the Valley poison. Walter White Jr. and Skyler White return home and while Jr. is excited about Hank's validation, Skyler tells Walt that she is afraid of him. Walt enjoyed a glass of scotch in celebration when he suddenly remembered Gus' cameras in the superlab. Walt and Jesse stopped Mike Ehrmantraut in the desert and after a heated argument the three worked with Old Joe to devise a plan to destroy Gus' laptop which was being held at the local police evidence locker. They managed to destroy the laptop by powering up a giant magnet inside a moving truck outside the police station. They escaped but had to leave the truck. In the car, Walt told Mike that he was certain the magnet worked "because I said so." Walt visited Saul Goodman at his office and when Saul tried to fire him as his client, Walt told him "we're done when I say we're done." Returning home, Walt told Skyler he knew what happened to Ted and, hugging her, said "I forgive you." Before helping Jesse search for the missing ricin cigarette, Walt hid the ricin in his bedroom's electrical outlet and placed a dummy cigarette in Jesse's roomba. Walt consoled Jesse after he had an emotional breakdown about nearly killing his partner and closest ally. Walt then used Jesse's guilt and vulnerability to convince him to continue their work together. Walt and Jesse extended an offer to Mike to form a new meth operation and accepted his decision to decline. When the DEA ceased Mike's funds he reluctantly changed his mind and Walt smugly accepted his partnership. Walt, Jesse, and Mike worked with Saul to sort out a new front for the meth manufacturing. They ended up agreeing on a mobile lab inside houses that were being bug bombed by Vamonos Pest Control. The mobile lab yielded less meth per cook than they were making for Gus but they each received a larger cut. However, Mike took "Legacy Funds" from each cook to recoup the lost savings of Fring's former colleages. Walt didn't take to this decision kindly at first but reluctantly accepted it. Walt sells his Aztek to his mechanic for $50 and buys himself a new Chrysler 300 and Jr. another Dodge Challenger. He tells Skyler to launder another $20,000 and she tells him that she wants the children out of the house. He refuses. The next morning is September 7, 2010—Walt's 51th birthday. The next day, exactly one year will have passed since Walt received his lung cancer diagnosis. During breakfast Skyler reluctantly makes a "51" with bacon on Walt's eggs to celebrate his birthday. That evening, Walt, Skyler, Walter, Jr., Hank and Marie finish a low-key birthday dinner in the Whites' back yard. After Walter, Jr. excuses himself, Walt points out that it's been a year since his cancer diagnosis. As he reminisces about the early days of his treatment and thanks the family for their support over the last year, Skyler slowly descends into the pool, fully-clothed, and sinks to the bottom. Panicked, Marie and Hank rush around the edge of the pool until Walt plunges in to pull her out . Later, Hank and Marie offer, on behalf of Skyler, to take Walt Jr. and Holly for a few days. Walt sarcastically congratulates a frightened Skyler about her brilliant plan but she tells him that her only choice is to wait for Walt's cancer to return and keep the children away from as much crime as she can. The next day, as Mike and Jesse argue over killing Lydia Rodarte-Quayle Walt, looking at his Heisenberg hat, informs them that the cooking must never slow down, no matter what. Outside, Jesse gives Walt a brand new TAG Heuer watch. At home, Walt shows the watch to Skyler and tell her that she will come around, just as Jesse did. After interrogating Lydia with Mike and Jesse, they learn she had nothing to do with the GPS tracker. She suggests they steal methylamine from a train that runs through New Mexico but Walt calls the task impossible. Jesse comes up with a plan involving siphoning off 1,000 gallons and replacing it with water. The men and Todd Alquist narrowly pull off the heist and witness as Todd murders a bystander. After disposing of the boy's bike and body; Walt, Jesse and Mike debate what to do with Todd. They vote to keep him close so he won't do anything rash. Walt tries to tell Jesse that their operation is now in the "smooth sailing" mode but the next day Jesse and Mike inform him they are selling their share of methylamine for $5 million each and bowing out of the meth trade. Walt refuses to join them, even when Mike's contact refuses to buy unless he gets all 1,000 gallons. Walt forces Jesse to dine with him and Skyler and when Skyler sullenly leaves the table he reveals to Jesse that his family has left him and his drug empire is the only thing that matters to him. Walt then heads to the Vamonos HQ where he is tied up by Mike so the methylamine can be sold without Walt's interruption. Walt escapes and hides the methylamine, promising -- at gunpoint -- that he has a solution where "everybody wins". At the meeting with Declan, Walt offers to sell Mike's 35% stake in the crew and responsibility for distribution for $5 million. After the deal is sealed, Walt and Jesse retrieve he methylamine from the Car Wash under the glare of Skyler. Jesse reminds Walt that he is done with the meth trade too but Walt tries to convince him that throwing his talent away is a mistake. Jesse willingly leaves Vamonos without a penny. Walt then begins training Todd on cooking meth. Walt removes the bugs from Hank's office and overhears that the DEA is going to arrest Mike. Walt tips off Mike and later meets him to hand off a "burn bag" of cash, a gun, and a passport. After handing over the bag, Walt demanded Mike give him the names of the nine guys in prison who would likely flip on Walt since their legacy funds stopped flowing. Mike refused and in a fit of rage Walt storms up to Mike's car and shoots him through the window. Horrified by his actions, Walt drops the gun and staggers to Mike. He attempts to apologize but shuts up on Mike's dying request. Walt and Todd disposed of Mike's car and body. Walt made an arrangement with Lydia to sell Blue Sky to the Czech Republic in exchange for the names of Gus' former ten henchmen. Walt paid Todd's uncle and neo-Nazi friends to murder them all in the span of two minutes. The plan was executed perfectly and no one was able to squeal to the DEA. Walt and Todd continued to cook meth flawlessly and effortlessly for three months until Skyler showed Walt a giant pile of cash in a storage unit and asked him for her children back. After a visit to the doctor, Walt learns that his cancer has returned and it's likely that he won't live for longer than six months. Having a presumed change of heart thanks to this revelation, Walt paid Jesse a visit and gave him two duffle bags of cash. He then told Skyler "I'm out" and they had a lunch the next day with their kids and Hank and Marie. Hank excuses himself to the bathroom, where he comes to the realization that Walt is Heisenberg . When Hank returns, he asks Marie to leave, since he is not feeling very well. Sometime later, Walt is seem working at the car wash when he is visited by Lydia, who demands him to return to the meth business, since she is not able to find anyone capable of cooking meth as pure as the blue sky. Walt coldly refuses her offer, Skyler notices Lydia's presence and tells her never to show her face near Walt again. Saul calls in, revealing that Jesse is planning to give away his share of the money, so Walt visits Jesse and tries to convince him to keep the money. Jesse is in total sorrow, and is suspicious that Walt killed Mike, just like he did to the prisoners. Walt promises Jesse that Mike is fine and living outside New Mexico, and that he may even come back someday in the future. It's not enough to convince Jesse, though. Later that night, Walt excuses himself from dinner to throw up in the bathroom, and notices that his copy of Leaves of Grass is missing. He searches everywhere, and grows suspicious that Hank may have found the book earlier on when he used the bathroom during the family lunch. It turns out that not only Hank found the book, but he planted a tracker onto Walt's vehicle, meaning that he is looking into Walt. Walt decides to pay Hank a visit, Hank locks them inside the garage and punches Walt, accusing him of being Heisenberg, Walt swears to God that he is innocent and also reveals that his cancer is back and he will be dead soon anyway. When Hank questions how much he knows Walter White, Walt tells him to "tread lightly" . Immediately after leaving Hank's garage, Walt tries to call Skyler but Hank already has her on the line. Walt races to the A1A Car Wash and finds Skyler gone. He then waits at Saul Goodman's office where Saul tells him to lose his cell phone. Huell and Kuby empty the White's storage locker full of cash and Walt drives the cash to the middle of the New Mexican desert where he spends the majority of the night burying it. He arrives home in the early morning hours and collapses on the floor of his bathroom as Skyler promises she told Hank nothing. He wake up hours later and Skyler tells him she knows his cancer has returned. He offers to turn himself in if she promises to keep the money, else his hard word and bad deeds will have been for nothing. She tells him Hank has no solid evidence and he should stay quiet and ride it out. Back at home, Walt convinces Walt Jr. to stay at home with him by informing him that his cancer has returned, rather than visit Marie and Hank for "computer troubles". A short time later, Walt creates a confession tape, and attends a dinner with Hank, Marie, and Skyler. At the dinner, Hank tells Walt to fess up and admit to all of his wrongdoing, to which Walt responds by handing him a DVD before departing. The DVD is an elaborate lie, pinning Hank as the mastermind behind Walt's meth empire - he manages to weave several true events into his story, making it seem airtight and extremely convincing, putting Hank in a vice. He meets with Saul and Jesse in the desert a short time later to find out what Hank and the DEA knows about him, but this leads to Jesse emotionally breaking down and telling Walt that his only motivation is to remove Jesse for his benefit. Walt embraces Jesse and convinces him to go as it's for the best. He later tells Skyler that this worked, but frantically returns a short time later upon learning from Saul that Jesse now knows that it was he who poisoned Brock. He opens up a nearby Coca-Cola machine after telling Skyler that there is a problem with the latch, and takes out a revolver before putting it into his pocket. Nine months later, Walt is at a New Mexico Denny's restaurant, with a full head of a hair and an unkempt beard, celebrating his 52nd birthday. A waitress tries to make conversation with him but Walt keeps to himself and gives her a fake name (Lambert, which is Skyler's and Marie's maiden names) and shows her a fake ID from New Hampshire. Excusing himself to the restroom, Walt then trades an envelope of cash for a set of car keys in the bathroom with Lawson, his previous gun dealer. Before exiting the restroom, Walt lets out a slight cough, and takes some medication. The keys belong to a car in the parking lot with an M60 machine gun in the trunk. A short time later, Walt returns to the White family residence, which has become unoccupied and vandalized to the point of being ruined, with graffiti all over the walls. Inside, the house is abandoned, empty and quiet - the word "HEISENBERG" is spray-painted across the living room wall. Teenagers are using the empty pool for skateboarding outside. Walt quickly sneaks through the empty house and retrieves the ricin that he hid in the electrical socket, making his way out before being noticed by his former neighbor, Carol, who looks at him in shock as Walt casually greets her. Personality and traits At the beginning of the series, Walter White is an milquetoast, overqualified, middle-aged high school chemistry teacher. He lives with his family in a modest house, but has trouble making ends meet. In order to make some extra cash he works a part-time job at a car wash after school. Though hired to work the register, his boss forces him to wash cars outside, where he's humiliated by one of his students (who drives a much nicer car than Walt does). At home, his sex life appears to be passionless; Skyler seems more involved in selling their household items on eBay than sharing an intimate moment in the bedroom, and Walt has trouble getting "inspired" anyway. To make matters worse, Walt has a loudmouth, alpha-male brother-in-law, Hank, who has a flashy job as a DEA agent, which is infinitely more impressive to Walt Jr. than his dad's job as a chemistry teacher. Right away, it is clear that Walter is a 50 year old man whose life didn't turn out how he envisioned. He feels beaten down, stretched thin, passed over, cheated, emasculated, exploited, unfulfilled, and even his great talent, chemistry, falls on the deaf ears of his students who couldn't care less. Even before his diagnosis he felt like a failure, unable to adequately provide for his family, or, more specifically, to fulfill the role expected of a man in this society. The news of his lung cancer leaves Walt numb - no trace of sadness or fury in him; it’s as if he was dead anyway. Learning that his life will be unexpectedly cut short, coupled with the knowledge that he's going to leave his family bankrupt, is the final slap in the face, the last humiliating insult life can dish out. When Walt partners up with Jesse, one of his former students, to make meth, his stated motivation is his family. He says that before he dies he wants to be able to take care of his loved ones. He wants Skyler to be able to pay off the mortgage, to cover college educations for his children, and medical bills for the whole family. At one point he even calculates an exact figure of how much money he needs to make in order to provide the essentials for his family over the next 20 years ($737,000), and then he'd quit selling drugs once he reaches that number. While deciding to make meth is morally dubious, the anger Walt feels about having to scrounge for every dollar while being trapped in an monotonous cycle, his life passing by day by day without any job or fulfillment, is legitimate, and it's compounded by the importance placed on the "traditional" patriarchal family unit, as well as the pressure and expectation put on men to provide for their families. After surviving his first foray into the dangerous drug underworld - a foray that was life threatening, terrifying, and violent - Walt feels invigorated for the first time in years. He goes home and sleeps with his wife. Skyler, surprised by his sudden sexual advance, asks, "Walt, is that you?!" as she gasps for breath. When Jesse questions Walt about his decision to enter the meth business, Walt reveals that he feels "awake." Walt frequently uses the concept of family as a justification for his actions. "When we do what we do for good reasons, there's nothing to worry about, and what better reason is there than family?" Walt assures Skyler, who is struggling with the collateral damage inflicted upon her former boss, Ted Beneke. While Walt uses family to justify his actions, his true motivations appear to be authority and power. He wants to shed the image of the nerdy science teacher who can't take care of his family. Walt wants respect, and wishes to seek revenge against the society that screwed him over, undervalued his worth, and overlooked his potential. Walt does what he does to give himself a sense of worth and pride, and he justifies his murderous greed by claiming he's just doing it for the good of his loved ones even as he pushes them away. Underneath that thinly veiled altruistic excuse is a naked desire to dominate others for the sake of unfettered growth and power. Series creator Vince Gilligan has described his goal with Walter White as turning Mr. Chips into Scarface, and his deliberately made the character less and less sympathetic over the course of the series. Gilligan said, "He's going from being a protagonist to an antagonist. We want to make people question who they're pulling for, and why." Over the course of the series, White has evolved - or devolved - into a ruthless, dangerous and amoral drug kingpin; a man willing to ruin and even end lives in the pursuit of greater riches and, more importantly, the nourishment of his own ego. As he says, he's in the "empire business." He wants to conquer, dominate, to bend the world to his will, and enrich himself without limit for the sake of obtaining power, everyone else be damned. Walt is a prideful, egotistical, and megalomaniacal man. When he and Skyler need to buy a business to launder their drug money, Walt becomes determined to purchase the very same car wash that wounded his pride when Skyler mentions that the owner, Bogdan, insulted his manhood. Walt also refuses to let Bogdan keep his framed dollar on the wall, and out of spite he decides to use that dollar to buy a soda from the vending machine . Walt's pride is what keeps him from accepting Gretchen and Elliot's "charity" (offering to pay for his treatment) and his fury at his son asking for donations through the website SaveWalterWhite.com. Furthermore, he tells his son Junior that he doesn't want to be remembered as a weak, dying man . While drunk at Hank and Marie's house, Walt's can't stand listening to Hank (who has ended his involvement with the case) laud Gale's genius. A prideful Walter insists Gale was not a genius, but was rather copying off someone else's work. This action convinces Hank to re-open the case . Every time Walt comes up against someone with more power than he does, instead of retreating he systematically destroys them and takes their place. First Krazy 8, then Tuco, Gus, and finally Mike, until only he is left holding the keys to the kingdom. He is shown to possess a kingpin's unbeatable survival skills: sociopathy, cunning, emotional manipulation, meticulousness, and violence – or at least the threat thereof. Bryan Cranston said by the fourth season: "I think Walt's figured out it's better to be a pursuer than the pursued. He's well on his way to badass." Over the course of the series, he’s evolved as a businessman, but he’s turned into a sociopath in both his personal and professional lives. He’s shed basic empathy and has no idea how much his colleagues and wife loathe him. As Walt delves deeper into the criminal underworld he increasingly sees people as expendable pawns, who he either manipulates to further his interests, or eliminates. Early on, Walt has great difficulty bringing himself to murder, but by the end of season 5a, he barely gives it a second thought. Nothing can stand in the way of his growing empire, and being in the position of power numbs his empathy for other human beings. He also comes to find his new status as a drug lord as psychologically rewarding, leading him to become less and less reluctant to resort to criminal acts such as theft, extortion, money laundering, depraved indifference, and murder. Walt's Machiavellian descent into the criminal underworld reveals a surprising level of repressed ambition, rage, resentment, vanity, and an increasing ruthlessness which has alienated him from his family and colleagues. Walter proves himself to be a natural liar. According to Vince Gilligan, "Walter is a man who lies to his family, lies to his friends, lies to the world about who he truly is. But what I think makes him a standout liar is that first and foremost he is lying to himself." It is also interesting to note that Walt is just itching for the chance to tell his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank that it's actually him, the mild mannered chemistry teacher that everyone's always overlooked and laughed at, who's been behind the legendary blue meth all along. It's that reckless desire for masculine pride that causes Walt's empire to swell beyond control, and it's what will cause his inevitable downfall, even if it's everyone else who pays the price for his crimes. "Heisenberg" persona Walt borrowed his "Heisenberg" pseudonym from the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Werner Heisenberg, a chemist who was also diagnosed with cancer. The German physicist is most famous for the Uncertainty Principle, which in its most basic form speaks to the general probabilistic, uncertain nature of quantum mechanics - Heisenberg's uncertainty principle holds that even if some properties are known, other equally important properties will be uncertain. The Heisenberg persona is first "born" when Walt goes to confront Tuco after Tuco beat up Jesse and took his meth without paying. As a result of hair loss caused by chemotherapy, Walter shaved his head. When Tuco asks him who he is, Walter introduces himself as "Heisenberg" for the first time . Bryan Cranston said, "I think he takes on that name - and that look - in order to not recognize himself. That as long as he doesn't recognize the man in the mirror, he can sort of keep going." As his first action as Heisenberg, Walt throws a piece of fulminated mercury onto the floor, triggering a large explosion. Vince Gilligan said, "For my money, this is the moment in the series where he really breaks bad." In his entire adult life, Walter had been capping his emotions, and he begins to feel more as he embraces the darker side of his personality. The sides of Walter's personality have been described as "sociopath and family man, scientist and killer, rational being and creature of impulse, entrepreneur and loser." Walter eventually transforms fully into his Heisenberg drug kinpin persona, which makes him confident, strong, authoritative, patient, manipulative, and cruel. As Heisenberg, Walt prefers to die in a fight a leave a legacy (good or bad) instead of giving in. The argument can be made that the cancer was merely a catalyst for Walt (generally family-oriented, employable, and mild-mannered) embracing another side to his personality—the Heisenberg side, the side that is gratified, feared, ruthless, and poweful—that was there all along. Character arc Walt's chemistry lesson in the Pilot has often being used to sum up the themes of the series and Walt's own character arc: he says, "Technically, chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change” – this change can be thought of as Walt's change from decent teacher to mighty drug kingpin. Walt also mentions that chemistry is "growth, decay, and transformation.” Throughout his journey, Walt reaches heights then descends into chaos – notably it occurs between Season 3 and 4; from working safely in the superlab with a steady relationship with Gus (growth), Walt ends up in seemingly hopeless situations, left with little money and hunted by the DEA and Gus (decay), to the triggering a new type of Heisenberg, a ruthless leader that has realized that "it's better to be the pursuer than the pursued" (transformation.). Walt transformation - his embracing of the dark and ruthless "Heisenberg" kingpin side of his personality - is a slow process that is advanced every time Walt crosses a line deeper into depravity (e.g. poisoning Brock). At the beginning of the series, it was clear to the viewer when Walt was making a conscious decision to become Heisenberg (wishing to keep his identity secret around other criminals, wearing the trademark black hat and sunglasses, etc.). Towards his family, he remained, for the most part, the same Walter White (although his mercurial, erratic behavior in the early seasons does raise some suspicions on the part of Skyler and Walt Jr.) However, as the series progresses, the line between Walt and his Heisenberg persona is increasingly blurred: even in his civilian life, he begins embracing his crueler, more vindictive side. The difference between Walt in the early episodes and Walt in the later episodes is stark, not only in his appearance (such as his bald hair and attire) but in his psychological traits as more, notably his view about causing harm to other human beings. Deaths Murders committed by Walt *'Emilio Koyama': Poisoned with phosphine gas. ("Pilot") *'Domingo Gallardo "Krazy 8" Molina': Strangled him with a bike lock. ("...and the Bag's in the River") *'Rival Dealers': Ran over them with his car, then shot one of them in the head. ("Half Measures") *'Two of Gus' Henchmen': Both shot to death. ("Face Off") *'Mike Ehrmantraut': Shot in the guts. ("Say My Name") Murders connected to Walt *'Gale Boetticher': Shot by Jesse on Walt's orders so that Walt and Jesse would be the only meth manufacturers available ("Full Measure"). *'Gustavo Fring': Blown up by Hector Salamanca. Walter supplied the bomb ("Face Off"). *'Tyrus Kitt': Blown up by Hector Salamanca. Walter supplied the bomb ("Face Off"). *'Gus's 10 former employees': Murdered by Jack and the White Supremacist group on Walt's orders ("Gliding Over All"). **'Dan Wachsberger' **'Jack McGann' **'Andrew Holt' **'Anthony Perez' **'Isaac Conley' **'William Moniz' **'Harris Boivin' **'Raymond Martinez' **'Ron Forenall' **'Dennis Markowski' Deaths connected to Walt *'Jane Margolis': Passed out after intravenously injecting a large amount of heroin. Soon after, Walt inadvertently rolled her onto her back, causing her to aspirate. Walt watched these events unfold, but ultimately made the difficult decision not to save her. ("Phoenix") *'167 People aboard the Wayfarer 515': Due to Walt's conscious decision not to save Jane as she aspirated, Donald Margolis (Jane's father), grief-stricken and consequently unfocused, caused Wayfarer Flight 515 to collide with another plane while working as an air traffic controller. ("ABQ") *'Hector "Tio" Salamanca': Voluntarily blew himself up. Walter supplied the bomb. ("Face Off") Quotes Trivia * Walt's car was a well-used 2003 Pontiac Aztek that had been repainted in a non-factory color chosen by series creator Vince Gilligan, perhaps to mimic the look of a badly-faded factory paint job or as symbolic of Walt's previously bland existence. The windshield has been broken and replaced several times due to various acts that have been a result of Walt's descent into the drug world. The show's production team has at least 2 Azteks equipped for different filming situations. * Walt is 5'11" (180 cm) and 165-170 lbs (75-77 kg) . * "Heisenberg", the actual Werner Heisenberg from which he derived his criminal alias, was born on December 5, 1901, at Würzburg, and was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics. He was also 'investigated' by the SS before his acceptance into the Nazi controlled scientific reich. One of his main contributions to science was the uncertainty principle (hence, this being the probable cause for Walter choosing Heisenberg as his alias). Heisenberg died of cancer in 1976. * Walter is one of two characters (along with Jesse Pinkman) to have appeared in every episode thus far. * Walter was born September 7, 1959, meaning that "Pilot" takes place in 2009, "Fifty-One" in 2010, and the flash-forward in "Live Free or Die" in 2011. *Walt has killed (inadvertently or otherwise) 186 people. es:Walter White Category:Breaking Bad characters Category:Gangsters Category:Murderers Category:Walt's drug empire